Arrogance Or "High Self Regard?"

Great article by Peggy Noonan, who is beginning to see a shift in this presidential campaign. The best part of it, I think, is her assessment of Barack Obama's arrogance.

Two weeks ago a journalist, a moderate liberal, spoke to me of what he called Mr. Obama's arrogance. I said I didn't think it was arrogance but high self-regard. He said there's no difference. I said no, arrogance has an air about it of pushing people around, insisting on your way. Mr. Obama doesn't seem like that. He took down a machine without raising his voice. Extremely high self-regard, though, can itself be a problem.

"What's wrong with that?" my friend said. "You want a self-confident president."

I said yes, but it brings up the Churchill question. Churchill had been scored by an acquaintance for his own very high self-regard, and responded with what was for him a certain sheepishness. "We're all worms," he said, "but I do believe I am a glowworm." He believed he was great, and he was. Is Mr. Obama a glowworm? Does he have real greatness in him? Or is he, say, a product of the self-esteem campaign, that movement within the schools and homes of our country the past twenty-five years that says the way to get a winner is to tell the kid he's a winner every day? You can get some true people of achievement that way, because some people need a lot of reinforcement to rise. But you can also get, not to put too fine a point of it, empty suits that take on a normal shape only because they're so puffed up with ego.

Extremely well put, Ms. Noonan. Barack Obama has absolutely no achievements to account for his haughtiness. He has done nothing to indicate that he has greatness in him. He is, in my opinion, a small minded man who unfortunately has come to believe all the hype about himself. This country will pay a high price if we are foolish enough to elect him.

JASmius adds: The sign of indolence (via Double-M):